Connecting means for electrical conductors embedded in an insulating housing



Jan. 23, 1962 J. CATALDO 3,018,463

CONNECTING MEANS FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS EMBEDDED IN AN INSULATINGHOUSING Filed July 23, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOHN CATHL D0Jan. 23, 1962 J. CATALDO 3,018,463

CONNECTING MEANS FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS EMBEDDED IN AN INSULATINGHOUSING Filed July 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BYWW% MM 3,9l8,i3 PatentedJan. 23, 1962 3,018,463 CGNNECTING MEANS FOR ELECTRICAL CUN- DUC'IURSEMBEDDED IN AN INSULATING HOUSING .Iohn Cataldo, Birmingham, Mich,assignor, by mesne assignrnents, to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company,Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 23, 1956.Ser. No. 599,392 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-164) This invention relates to aconnecting means for a first and second pair of conductors, each ofwhich are embedded in insulating housings wherein the direction of thefirst and second pairs of conductors may be different.

Electrical conductors which are embedded in insulating housings may beseen with reference to application Serial No. 252,272, filed October 20,1951 and now abandoned.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a connecting meanswhich is so adapted as to allow interconnection between a first andsecond pair of conductors which are embedded in insulating housingswherein connection may be obtained by an insertion of the conductorsinto cooperating clip connectors supported within the connecting means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a connecting means oftheabove described type which is comprised of an insulating housing anda back plate wherein the insulating housing is so constructed as toposition and maintain a first and second electrical connector which areadapted to allow plug-in type connection between a first and second pairof conductors embedded in insulated housings.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a connecting means ofthe above described type which carries electrical connectors thereinadapted to be energizable from a power source so as to energize a pairof conductors housed within an insulating housing.

A further object of our invention is to provide a connecting means ofthe above described type which is fastened to a back plate so as to bemountable to an outlet box, this back plate having snappable groovesinscribed therein for providing easy points of fracture to adjust thesize of the wall plate.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a connectingmeans of the above described type which is adjustably mounted on a wallplate so as to be capable of receiving a pair of conductors embedded inan insulating housing when this pair of conductors are in a horizontalor vertical direction.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing description when taken in connection with the drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the connecting means of thisinvention when adapted to be mounted on a wall plate for subsequentmounting to an outlet box.

FIGURE 2 shows an exploded perspective of a connecting means constructedin accordance with this invention when it is adapted to be mounted on awall plate for subsequent mounting to an outlet box.

FIGURE 3 shows a rear view of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 shows a rear view of FIGURE 2 with the wall and back platesremoved.

FIGURE 5 shows a side view of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 shows a top view of FIGURE 3.

Now referring to the figures which illustrate my novel mounting deviceincluding means for bringing power leads to the electrical connectors tothereby energize the pairs of conductors connected thereto. This deviceis a straight through type of connecting means which is comprised of thehousing '72 and connectors 73 and 74, which are maintained within thehousing 72 by the back plate and cooperating screws 76 and 77.

As is seen in the bottom view of FIGURE 4, the connectors 73 and 74which are connected to power leads 76' and 77 respectively nest withinthe housing 72 in recesses constructed to position and maintain thespring contacts 78, 79, 80 and 81 for cooperation with a pair ofconductors embedded in an insulating housing.

By way of example, FIGURE 2 shows the spring type conductors 78 and 81as being positioned to cooperate with a pair of conductors 82 and 83while access to terminals 79 and 80 is blocked by the insulating plug 84which may be inserted into the housing 72. Plug 84 may be replaced byanother pair of conductors 82, 83 and their insulating housing 100.

This straight through type of connecting means may then be connected toa wall plate 85 by means of the screw 86 which projects through aperture87 of the housing 72, aperture 88 of the back plate 75, and aperture 89of the wall plate 85. The power leads 76' and '77 are, as may be seenmore specifically in FIGURE 3,

taken through the aperture 90 of the back plate 75 and the curvedaperture 91 of the wall plate 85. The boundaries of curved aperture 91are defined by rolled over edge portions 91 extending rearwardly ofplate 85. Wall plate 85 may then be mounted to an outlet box by thefastening means extending through apertures 92 and 93. Clearly the leads76' and 77 which extend into the outlet box may be connectible to thepower leads therein.

In view of the curved construction of aperture 91, it is seen that uponloosening of the fastening means 86, that the housing 72 with itsassembled connectors 73 and 74 and back plate 75 may be rotated from thevertical position seen in the solid lines of FIGURE 2 to the horizontalposition seen in the dotted lines of FIGURE 2, the slot 91 permittingmovement of leads 76 and 77' within this slot in an arcuate path. I

It is to be further noted that the wall plate 85 has grooves 94, 95, 96and 97 inscribed therein. These grooves provide easy points of fractureto thereby allow adjustment of the size of the wall plate 85. Clearly, asimilar set of grooves could be provided in the horizontal direction inthe same manner.

Since the connecting means may now be considered a power source, it maybe important in some applications to have polarization for the leads 76'and 77. Polarization in the case of this type of connector is providedby constructing the housing 72 to have a slot 98 therein which ispositioned oif center to cooperate with an olf-center protrusion such asprotrusion 99 of an insulating housing such as the insulating housing109 which carries conductors 82 and 83 only when the leads 82 and 83 areproperly polarized with respect to the potentials appearing at springcontacts 78 and 81 respectively.

Although preferred embodiments of this invention have been describedherein, many variations and modifications will now be evident to thoseskilled in the art. We prefer, therefore, to be limited, not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A connecting means connectible to a first and sec-ond pair ofconductors embedded in a first and second insulating housingrespectively; said connecting means comprising a first and secondelectrical connector, an insulating housing, a back plate and means tofasten said back plate to said connecting means insulating housing; eachend of said first and second electrical connectors having clipconnectors of spring type current carrying material for cooperating withone of said conductors of said first and second pair of conductors inspring biasing engagement; said connecting means insulating housingbeing constructed to position and maintain said first and secondelectrical connectors in a predetermined relationship when said backplate is fastened to said connecting means insulating housing; a wallplate; means adjustably mounting said connecting means to said wallplate; said wall plate being mountable to an outlet box; individualflexible conductors connected to each of said first and said secondelectrical connectors for connecting same to a power source; saidflexible conductor extending through said back plate and an arcuate slotin said wall plate.

2. A connecting means connectible to a first and second pair ofconductors embedded in a first and second insulating housingrespectively; said connecting means comprising a first and secondelectrical connector, an insulating housing, a back plate and means tofasten said back plate to said connecting means insulating housing; eachend of said first and second electrical connectors having clipconnectors of spring type current carrying material for cooperating withone of said conductors of said first and second pair of conductors inspring biasing engagement; said connecting means insulating housingbeing constructed to position and maintain said first and secondelectrical connectors in a predetermined relationship when said backplate is fastened to said connecting means insulating housing; a wallplate; means adjustably mounting said connecting means to said wallplate; said wall plate being mountable to an outlet box; individualflexible conductors connected to each of said first and said secondelectrical connectors for connecting same to a power source; saidflexible conductors extending through said back plate and an arcuateslot in said wall plate; said arcuate slot being of a length sufficientto limit relative movement between said connecting means and said wallplate to approximately 90.

3. A connecting means connectible to a first and second pair ofconductors embedded in a first and second insulating housingrespectively; said connecting means comprising a first and secondelectrical connector, an insulating housing, a back plate and means tofasten said back plate to said connecting means insulating housing; eachend of said first and second electrical connectors having clipconnectors of spring type current carrying material for cooperating withone of said conductors of said first and second pair of conductors inspring biasing engagement; said connecting means insulating housingbeing constructed to position and maintain said first and secondelectrical connectors in a predetermined relationship when said backplate is fastened to said connecting means insulating housing; a wallplate; securing means adjustably mounting said connecting means to saidwall plate; said first and second electrical connectors beingconnectible to a power source by conductors extending through anaperture in said wall plate; said wall plate being mountable in anoutlet box; said aperture being constructed to permit adjustment of saidconnecting means between a first and a second position with respect tosaid wall plate by a rotation of at least in a plane parallel to saidwall plate without dismounting therefrom; said securing means definingan axis of rotation for said connecting means and also comprising meansfor maintaining said connecting means in adjusted positions.

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